Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

NASA data range from measuring the current and historical extent of snow and ice to tracking its formation and melting. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Dataset	Geographic Region	Temporal Extent	Data Format	Potential Application Areas	Related Subtopics
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Level 1 ScanSAR Product	Global	2014-08-01 to Present		Sea ice coverage and movement tracking	sea ice
ARIA Sentinel-1 Geocoded Unwrapped Interferograms	Global	2014-06-15 to Present		Glacier flow velocity estimation	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data V006	Global	2018-10-13 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice freeboard determination Ice sheet mass balance studies	glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Ice sheet mass balance assessment Glacier thinning rate monitoring Ice sheet contribution to sea level rise Ice flow dynamics research Ice shelf stability monitoring Climate model validation for ice processes Cryosphere change detection Water resource planning in glaciated regions	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice thickness estimation Ice volume calculation for mass balance Arctic shipping route safety assessment Climate model validation for sea ice Ice age and type discrimination	sea ice
GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1	Global	1850-01-01 to Present	WMS WFS GML ASCII Shapefile KML	Global glacier inventory and monitoring Water resource planning in glaciated regions Glacier hazard identification Long-term glacier change detection	glaciers, ice sheets
MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow extent mapping and monitoring Climate model validation for snow cover Flood risk prediction from snowmelt Cold region transportation planning Albedo feedback studies in climate research	snow ice
MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow cover mapping	snow ice
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 2	Arctic, Antarctica, Polar, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere	2021-11-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Sea ice edge position tracking Rapid response to changing ice conditions	sea ice
OPERA Surface Displacement from Sentinel-1 validated product (Version 1)	Global	2016-07-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 XML PNG Zarr	Ice sheet and glacier movement tracking	glaciers, ice sheets
RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS 3-DAY AVERAGE FROM DMSP F17 NETCDF V7	Global	2006-12-12 to Present	NetCDF-4	Sea ice edge mapping in polar regions	sea ice
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 2	Polar	1978-10-26 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Long-term sea ice trend analysis Arctic amplification studies Polar ecosystem management Polar climate feedback mechanism research Multi-decadal ice variability studies	sea ice
SENTINEL-1B_DUAL_POL_GRD_HIGH_RES	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Snow cover extent monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
SENTINEL-1B_SLC	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Coherence analysis for subtle change detection Polarimetric target characterization Glacier velocity measurement and ice monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
VIIRS/JPSS1 Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2018-01-05 to Present	HDF-EOS5	High-resolution snow extent monitoring Snowmelt timing detection	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	HDF-EOS5	Daily snow cover extent mapping Snow accumulation and ablation monitoring Water supply forecasting in snowmelt-dependent regions Winter storm impact assessment	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Imagery Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 375 m	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	NetCDF	Ice edge and sea ice monitoring	sea ice

Cryosphere Datasets

View All Datasets

Filters

Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
SnowEx23 Airborne Lidar-Derived 0.5M Snow Depth and Canopy Height V001	1	CESSNA 206	Riegl Airborne Lidar	2022-03-11 to 2023-10-25	N: 70 S: 64.5 E: -148 W: -148.5	0.5 Meters x 0.5 Meters	GeoTIFF
SnowEx23 Apr23 AVIRIS-NG Surface Spectral Reflectance V001	1	B-200	AVIRIS-NG	2023-04-07 to 2023-05-05	N: 63.923672 S: 63.849275 E: -145.740261 W: -145.794581 , N: 65.845611 S: 65.09561 E: -147.452956 W: -147.6783 , N: 64.915781 S: 64.839828 E: -147.657586 W: -147.764758 , N: 65.217951 S: 63.958389 E: -145.402168 W: -147.538696		BIL
SnowEx23 Apr23 IOP HyLab Airborne Surface Spectral Reflectance V001	1	AIRCRAFT	SPECTROMETERS	2023-04-20 to 2023-04-20	N: 65.1702045 S: 64.8598472 E: -147.4506291 W: -147.7491983		BSQ
SnowEx23 Apr23 IOP Snow Pit Measurements V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	A2 Photonic_WISe, GPS, MICROSCOPES, SNOW DENSITY CUTTER, THERMOMETERS	2023-04-01 to 2023-04-18	N: 65.16124 S: 63.8631 E: -145.72673 W: -147.72499		CSV
SnowEx23 Apr23 Spectrometer Snow Surface Reflectance and Albedo, Version 1 V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SPECTRORADIOMETERS	2023-04-05 to 2023-05-05	N: 65.16127 S: 63.86191 E: -145.7231 W: -147.7298		CSV
SnowEx23 CRREL Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2023-03-08 to 2023-03-15	N: 68.64 S: 68.5257 E: -149.2186 W: -149.598		CSV
SnowEx23 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Data V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	IRIS, IceCube, InfraSnow	2023-03-06 to 2023-03-16	N: 70.085 S: 68.528 E: -148.612 W: -149.597 , N: 65.155 S: 64.701 E: -147.4905 W: -148.291		CSV
SnowEx23 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Snow-off Data V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	IceCube	2023-10-17 to 2023-10-28	N: 70.084 S: 68.5284 E: -148.6127 W: -149.5964 , N: 65.1546 S: 64.701 E: -147.4906 W: -148.2902	1 Meters x 1 Meters	ASCII
SnowEx23 Mar22 IOP Snow Depth Measurements V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	MAGNAPROBE	2022-03-08 to 2022-03-23	N: 70.085 S: 64.699 E: -147.49 W: -149.597		CSV
SnowEx23 Mar23 IOP Community Snow Depth Measurements V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	MAGNAPROBE, SNOW MEASURING ROD	2023-03-07 to 2023-03-16	N: 70.085 S: 64.699 E: -147.49 W: -149.597		CSV
SnowEx23 MAR23 IOP Computed Tomography Snow Microstructure V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	Microtomography	2023-03-07 to 2023-03-16	N: 70.08434 S: 64.69925 E: -147.48583 W: -149.59716		CSV, Text File
SnowEx23 Mar23 IOP CSU 1 GHz Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR, GPS	2023-03-07 to 2023-03-16	N: 64.704 S: 64.7 E: -148.284 W: -148.292 , N: 65.152 S: 65.145 E: -147.525 W: -147.591 , N: 64.879 S: 64.863 E: -147.667 W: -147.742		CSV
SnowEx23 Mar23 IOP Snow Depth Profiles V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	PROBES	2023-03-07 to 2023-03-16	N: 70.084378 S: 64.699253 E: -147.485758 W: -149.597226		CSV
SnowEx23 Mar23 Snow Pit Measurements V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	A2 Photonic_WISe, GPS, MICROSCOPES, SNOW DENSITY CUTTER, THERMOMETERS	2022-03-07 to 2023-03-16	N: 70.08434 S: 64.69925 E: -147.48583 W: -149.59716		CSV, Excel, JPEG, PDF
SnowEx23 Oct22 IOP Snow Depth Profiles V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	PROBES	2022-10-22 to 2022-10-27	N: 70.084378 S: 64.699253 E: -147.485758 W: -149.597226		CSV
SnowEx23 Oct22 IOP Snow Pits and Substrate Conditions at Freeze Up V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPS, MICROSCOPES, SWE Sampler, THERMOMETERS	2022-10-22 to 2022-10-27	N: 70.08434 S: 64.69925 E: -147.48583 W: -149.59716		CSV, Excel, JPEG
SnowEx23 Oct22 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Low-snow V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	IceCube	2022-10-24 to 2022-10-24	N: 70.084 S: 68.5284 E: -148.6127 W: -149.5964	1 Meters x 1 Meters	CSV
SnowEx23 Oct23 IOP Snow Depth Profiles V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	PROBES	2023-10-17 to 2023-10-28	N: 70.084378 S: 64.699253 E: -147.485758 W: -149.597226		CSV
SnowEx23 Snow Depth from Time-Lapse Imagery V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	CAMERAS	2022-10-14 to 2024-06-01	N: 65.1951 S: 64.6995 E: -147.3943 W: -148.3622		CSV
SnowEx23 Snow Water Equivalent V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SNOW TUBE	2023-03-13 to 2023-03-16	N: 68.615 S: 64.8677 E: -147.6745 W: -149.494		ASCII
SnowEx23 University of Wyoming Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	LIDAR	2023-03-11 to 2023-03-14	N: 70.0846 S: 70.0036 E: -148.61304 W: -148.77094 , N: 68.63965 S: 68.58784 E: -149.34396 W: -149.54981		CSV
Snowmelt Timing Maps Derived from MODIS for North America, Version 2, 2001-2018	2	Terra	MODIS	2001-01-01 to 2018-12-31	N: 90 S: 10 E: 0 W: -180		GeoTIFF
Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L1-L3 Ancillary NOAA Data V001	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	2015-01-31 to Present	N: 86.4 S: -86.4 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-3, ASCII
SWOT Level 2 Radiometer Brightness Temperatures and Troposphere Interim Data Product	2.0	SWOT	AMR	2022-12-16	N: 77.6 S: -77.6 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4
SWOT Level 2 Radiometer Brightness Temperatures and Troposphere Interim Data Product, Version 1.0	1.0	SWOT	AMR	2022-12-16	N: 77.6 S: -77.6 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4

Frequently Asked Questions

Earthdata Forum

Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.

Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses

Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Applications in the Cryosphere

Cryosphere Datasets

Cryosphere Data Tools

Earthdata Forum

EarthdataForum

Earthdata
Forum